Reno: Raid Was 'Best Judgment' Children's Deaths at Waco 'Will Be with Me,' She Says

Article excerpt

An unwavering Janet Reno defended her decision to use tear gas
to end the siege at Waco but said Tuesday the fiery deaths of
children there "will be with me for the rest of my life."

The attorney general rebuffed persistent Republican attempts to
blame President Bill Clinton for what went wrong at the Texas
standoff two years ago. And Rep. Bill McCollum of Florida, one of
two Republicans chairing the hearings, said he was satisfied that
she "made the ultimate decision."

But the other co-chair, Rep. Bill Zeliff of New Hampshire,
suggested at one point that Clinton made the decision and at
another point that he improperly distanced himself from the
decision.

"When military weapons are turned on the American people, who
makes that decision?" Zeliff asked.

Reno insisted, as she has from the start, that the decision to
use tear gas was hers and that Clinton pledged to "back me up" when
she explained what the FBI was going to do.

"I made the best judgment I could based on everything I had
available," she said.

Reno was the final witness in 10 days of hearings into what
went wrong at Waco, where Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and
80 followers died by fire or gunfire on April 19, 1993, six hours
after the FBI started filling the compound with tear gas.

The deaths, which the government termed a mass suicide in fires
set by the Davidians, ended a 51-day standoff that began with a
shootout Feb. 28 that left six Davidians and four federal agents
dead.

Throughout the contentious hearings, Republican lawmakers
criticized a number of actions taken by the FBI, the Justice
Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. But
none of the other decisions was as closely examined as the FBI's
use of tear gas.

Zeliff said that decision led to the deaths of Koresh and his
followers.

"Koresh was the bomb," he said. "We lit the fuse."

Reno said she initially rejected the plan but agreed to it
after military experts told her the gas would not be harmful to
children inside the compound. Other factors in her decision, she
added, included FBI reports that the group had fresh water and
enough food for up to a year, the likelihood that reported child
abuse would continue, the fatigue of the specially trained hostage
rescue team and a concern that a private militia group might head
to Waco "either to help Koresh or attack him. …